The social mix in tall buildings

I hadn't previously knowingly crossed the path of the Associate Parliamentary Group for Design and Innovation, and regret I had to leave their conference on the Sustainable Communities Plan early. But not before I'd taken another chance to meet and hear again the excellent David Marks, talking about Marks Barfield's Skyhouse idea - thanks to Will Davies at iSociety for the contact. Skyhouse is an ambitious project to address the problem of lack of urban density in London by building high and with mixed tenure.

There are big questions about how likely it is that mixed tenure will survive beyond a few years. Handling the social mix in a vertical cul-de-sac, from the design stage, is intricate to say the least. In a meeting last week hosted by iSociety, we touched on some of the questions about the shortage of semi-private and semi-public space in tall buildings. If you live in a low-rise area, chances are you have garden fences and parking spaces and porches and pavements, and windows overlooking the access to dwellings... all making for spaces of occasional connection or avoidance, all influencing social interactions in profound and subtle ways. Much of life in tower blocks is either in public space or in private space, and there's not much in-between.
CDF has carried out previous work on tower blocks and we're looking to extend that, so watch this space. Will Davies's interest is in the place of social software in such a venture - Will's excellent report on social software is here.
I don't think Marks Barfield are fooling themselves about how difficult the project is, all credit to them for going at it with full awareness of the social implications. I look forward to much learning and perhaps the chance to help with some of the thinking.
David Wilcox has posted a note about Skyhouse today, reflecting on the social history of tall buildings in this country.